Sidhu opted to return midway through the tour after a row with captain Mohammad Azharuddin. The coach Sandip Patil failed to dissuade him from returning home.The Indian Board suspended Sidhu from international cricket until 14 October and charged him half of his tour fee.

The tour marked the end point of Azharuddin’s captaincy.Already under fire after failing to win the World Cup or two limited-overs tournaments in Singapore and Sharjah, he faced criticism that belonged to chief selector Viswanath for the composition of the side, particularly dropping Kambli and choosing only three seamers. In fact Ganguly stepped readily into Kambli’s shoes and made a brilliant start to his lengthy Test career.

However, Azharuddin’s side suffered from a number of poor decisions by the ICC-appointed umpires and when India lost the one-day series and then the Test series one-nil, Azharuddin’s future was sealed.In August Sachin Tendulkar, aged 23, was appointed captain in place of him and became India’s second-youngest skipper.

G R Viswanath was Chief Selector.He stood down as chairman in mid 1996.

Other members of the panel were A D Gaekwad,K M Rungta, S BanerjeeandM P Pandove.

Selection

There was a two hour selection meeting in New Delhi.

Tour Party Announced:23 April 1996.

Not selected :Vinod Kambli (Viswanath said that Kambli was not even considered, and Vengsarkar wrote in the Asian Age newspaper yesterday that he believed Kambli "was dropped for reasons other than cricket", suggesting that the reason was disciplinary) ; Manoj Prabhakar;Ashish Kapoor.

Time between selection and departure from India

7 days

(23 April - 30 April)

Travel

The team left from New Delhi on Tuesday 30 April 1996, and arrived in London on 1 May

Time spent in England

x days(1 May - July)

On-tour selection committee

Reinforcements

S A Ankola

B

28

RMF

Ankola was drafted in from league cricket in Northumberland when Sunil Joshi was forced to return home.Navjot Sidhu quit the tour party before the Test series began because of disagreements with Azharuddin.

Fixtures/Results

† Osterley

Indian Gymkhana

Won 96 r

† Arundel

Duchess of Norfolk's XI

Won 9 w

† Uxbridge

England NCA

Won 114 r

Worcester

Worcestershire

Drawn

Bristol

Gloucestershire

Drawn

Hove

Sussex

Drawn

† Lord's

Middlesex

Won r rate

† Luton

Northamptonshire

Lost 5 w

§ Kennington Oval

England(1st ODI)

No result

§ Lord's

England(2nd ODI)

Lost 6 w

§ Old Trafford

England(3rd ODI)

Lost 4 w

Chelmsford

Essex

Drawn

Leicester

Leicestershire

Drawn

EDGBASTON

ENGLANDFirst Test

LOST 8 w

Derby

Derbyshire

Lost 10 w

LORD'S

ENGLANDSecond Test

DRAWN

Cambridge

Universities

Drawn

Southampton

Hampshire

Drawn

TRENT BRIDGE

ENGLANDThird Test

DRAWN

† Den Haag

Netherlands

Won 19 r

† Den Haag

Netherlands

Won 156 r

† not first-class

§Texaco Trophy one-day internationals

Time spent in England before First Test:

36 days

(1 May - 6 June)

Test appearances on tour

3-Azharuddin, Kumble, Mongia, Prasad, Rathore, Srinath, Tendulkar.

2-Dravid, Ganguly, Jadeja, Manjrekar, Mhambrey.

1-Joshi, Raju.

0-Ankola,Hirwani, Sidhu.

Highlights

•Ganguly scored 131 on his Test debut at Lord’s, while Dravid, also on debut, scored 95.

•

•

•

•.

Tour Summary

P

W

L

D

Aban

Test Matches

3

0

1

2

-

Other first-class matches

8

0

7

1

-

† Minor matches

7

6

1

0

-

§ One-day internationals

3

0

2

1

-

All Matches

21

6

11

3

-

Return to India

last match ended in HollandSat 13July 1996

Recalling his bitter experience during the 1996 tour of Holland where the team had gone to promote cricket, one senior player said: “We had gone there to promote the game. We had to arrange for transport, and getting the baggage into the bus was a Herculean task.”